Speeches by Thomas-Symonds.

“I take issue with your first point. Scottish salmon is a hugely important UK export—”

“It is hugely important and is recognised around the world. I think the deal delivering for Scottish salmon will obviously be great for that sector and for the UK economy as well. Your broad point is: how is the benefit going to be passed down? I think that is the basic challenge that you are putting to me.”

“Of course, and we have regular dialogue with them about that. My answer is that, first, we want to see wide benefits of the SPS agreement. At the moment, we have the outline that exists in the Common Understanding. We will now negotiate a legal text and take that forward. Secondly, the fishing and coastal growth fund i…”

“Adding to Stephen’s point, the issue now is that the Commission has proposed a mandate, which is not yet approved by the European Council. Once it is, we can enter detailed negotiations. At the summit on 19 May, when we signed the Common Understanding, the President of the Commission was very forward-leaning on pressin…”

“Probably not, is the answer. I think I was just asked about a doorstep pitch. You do not get very long for your doorstep pitch.”

“You could do it. I used to talk about this, which may be to your point, Richard. I used to talk about security, safety and prosperity, which probably would then encompass a bit better the point you are making. There is a really serious point here. Of course, we have things that will be a tangible benefit—look at what t…”

“There is not a particular delay—I would not accept that. We very much respect the EU’s internal processes. The Commission has proposed the mandate for the Council to sign it off. As a Government, we are certainly prepared for the 30 November deadline. We will be pushing that forward. The reason—as I am sure members of …”

“First, Elspeth and Mike are both extremely powerful advocates, as I know very well from my engagement. Salmon Scotland obviously takes a different view—if you look at what it said about the deal, it was in a very different position. I believe we have struck a deal that is very much in the interests of UK fishers. Let m…”

“First, can I say something about the PPA and thank you for your participation? I want to reassure cross-party colleagues around the table that not just myself but the former EU negotiator Lord Frost was there, so you will be pleased to hear that there was a range of views being expressed in the PPA. In all seriousness,…”

“No, there have not been any payments. It is not established.”

“There has to be a cap, and we have been straightforward about that throughout. I see this scheme in the context of the ones we already have. Again, I am treading carefully because this is a live part of the ongoing negotiations, but we have 13 youth mobility schemes at the moment, a number of which were signed by the p…”

“I am an optimist in life, and I genuinely think that we can. As I always say about this, when we came into Government, we delivered the Common Understanding within 10 months, which was not bad going, so having had one experience of very intense negotiation, I am at least confident we can get there again—absolutely.”

“No. We are operating what I call a hub-and-spoke model in Government. Obviously, I sit at the hub in the Cabinet Office, and I have to take the final decisions on the trade-offs in the negotiations—that has to happen in one place—but we rely on the expertise of the different Departments. I haven’t been familiar with th…”

“In terms of the UK-France arrangement, it is a pilot. If you pilot something and it is regarded as being successful in its objectives, then clearly it can be scaled up. That is the nature of a pilot. The European Commission has given the green light to that pilot, so it has that going forward. What we obviously want to…”

“Just to answer off the top of my head, I find it very difficult to see how we can recover much of that. I am more than happy to steer back and have a discussion about whether any of it could be, of course—it is important value for money for taxpayers—but the reality is that the ruthlessly pragmatic approach that we hav…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Whether we go back to 1924 or even further back—and I will during my speech—we find Conservatives in this House protecting their friends born into positions of power. This Bill will finally remove such an archaic right. Just as the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) —he is overse…”

“I beg to move, That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 1.”

“Absolutely not, because the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a Member of Parliament who enjoys the confidence of this House. That is entirely different from the situation of having places in the House of Lords on the basis of an accident of birth. I should say, though, because I do not want to just criticise the…”

“I am glad to hear that—there is the real voice of the Conservative party. We have also therefore heard a lot of protestations that there is no attempt from the Conservative party to block this—we will see in the voting Lobby in due course whether the Conservatives actually seek to block further progress again. We talk …”

“I will just come to the other points that we are raising. I have made clear that Lords amendment 1 guts the purpose of the Bill, which is why the Government oppose it. On the other amendments, first I am pleased with and thank the hon. Gentleman for his support on amendment 4, on the introduction of the power of attorn…”